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Tips to Curtail Your CNC Machining Expenses
Within the field of manufacturing, CNC machining is key to a variety of industries. Time and resources can quickly make this a costly business expense. Approaches to raw materials, capital equipment, technique, and product design can significantly affect CNC machining costs. These four ways to curtail your CNC machining expenses without jeopardizing timeline, product quality, or design will start your experience on the right path.
The Right Machine for Your Shop
Spend the time to research the right approach for your machining needs. The CNC machine you select can have a considerable impact on the initial and ongoing cost. Also, consider the investment to buy the machine or outsource machining to another company in both short-term and long-term strategy.
Three-axis CNC milling machines are a common choice because they can manage most designs and are generally cheaper than 5-axis, 6-axis, and 9-axis machines. They also are easier to program, which means that they are less expensive in terms of investment, training, and operator time to program the machine for milling procedures.
When manufacturing in-house, you may find it simpler to employ a CNC machine operator who can better manage 3-axis machines than the more complicated multi-axis CNC machines. The time to reset a workpiece for multiple processes may be less expensive than the time saved with one complicated production run. Machining expenses like the machine cost and operator skill level must be evaluated.
CNC lathes usually are less expensive than 3-axis machines. They operate on 2- or 3- axes but do not give the same degree of functionality.
- Limit the complexity of your design.
When prepping a finished design for CNC machining, the unnecessary details should be considered in overall machining expenses.
First, It is essential that the design created can conform to the CNC machine you have in your shop, or, with multiple machines, that you employ the correct CNC machine for the specific design you will produce.
Generally speaking, the more intricate a design is, the more time is required for machining. Designs that include tight tolerances, complex details, and intricate surface finishes can easily drive up the cost of a workpiece. If the workpiece has threads, consider reducing the length, which is generally more difficult to mill.
Internal cavity size is also important to consider. A cavity that extends far down in a product is typically discouraged by machinists; such cavities take time, often require specially designed tools, and increase the risk of tool damage during the machining process.
- Simple designs make for simpler machining.
There are design choices you can make to assist with reducing machining time that don’t need to affect quality.
Corner design can be simplified, for instance, by implementing a radius to square interior corners, or producing a rounded instead of a sharp corner. CNC drills are cylindrical, and naturally don’t accommodate perfect, square corners. A rule of thumb is to design a corner at no less than one-third of the overall cavity size.
Manufacturing products with thick walls can assist with limiting milling time. Thicker walls vibrate less during the milling process, making it easier to mill parts precisely and accurately.
Time and equipment versatility may not be important for single parts, however, as the number of parts you produce increases, you will notice how time-saving techniques have a major, positive impact on the machining expenses. It is critical not to neglect the economies of scale. The more parts that require CNC machining, the more critical small changes in efficiency become.
When prototyping or manufacturing low production runs, the initial costs needed for the design process can become more important than the efficiency of design or choosing the best machine for your particular workpiece. In some situations, it may be a smart idea to research alternatives to CNC machining for the beginning stages in the design process. For one-off prototypes, it may be worthwhile to utilize techniques such as additive manufacturing or die-casting.
- The benefit of using easy-to-machine materials.
Some materials are easier to machine than others based on their malleability. Less ductile metals take longer to manufacture. Brass and aluminum alloys, for example, take less energy for machining than steel, and, therefore, can be machined in less time.
Metals are popular machining material, however, they are not the only alternative. Inexpensive materials can assist with bringing machining costs down, too, especially at scale. Plastics, such as polycarbonate and phenolic plastic, are also good high-performance materials that can be machined with the majority of CNC mills. These types of materials can be a durable and lightweight solution to metals.
Your CNC Machining Needs
The costs associated with CNC machining can be reduced significantly with a few adjustments. If your analysis determines a cost-benefit to outsource, you can curtail CNC machining expenses with a few easy changes to your design approach. The bigger the challenge for the operator or the machine increases cost due to the time needed to complete production.
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